Leeds trolleybus scheme delayed further

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 7:09 pm

[quotenick="Riponian"] LS1 wrote: Cardiarms wrote: Ideally you could have a bus lane with an electric bus on it.Roundhay Road, Prince's Ave, York Road, Cross Gates Rd, Easterly Road are a few that spring to mind that have ex reserved way or have the space for it. Trouble is, the area that supposedly needs this sillybus isn't one that had any reserved way for the trams of old, and so it'll just get stuck in the traffic anyway. If they were going out to the places that previously had tram routes (with the exception of Moortown/Roundhay etc which was one of the busiest) then they could use them. However we've seen the mis-guided busways and their effectiveness, and the answer seems to be a concerted "no" in that respect.In going for this restricted, and quite frankly unwanted, network we deserve getting it turned down yet again for funding. I just wish they'd stop throwing money at it. Agreed, the money could be spent on other arterial routes to better effect.

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 7:11 pm

p.s. Hpw do you double the number of routes to be built at no extra expense? Cut in in half.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 8:32 pm

Brunel wrote: How the NIMBYs of Colton would appreciate that route now, eh?The obvious route to East Leeds has been scuppered forever by First persuading Metro (gullible?) to use virtually all the seperated running space that the trams had for the expensive white elephant that is the mis-guided busway, something that could have been achieved with buslanes for a fraction of the cost.The irony is that within a few years Arriva stopped using mis-guided buses on routes using York Road, so the First / Arriva duopoloy became a First monopoly with Arriva, Harrogate & District and Yorkshire Coastliner services mixing it with the rest of us on the normal carriageways.Funnily enough, when Arriva recently launched their hybrid buses on this route, no-one asked why they weren't using the mis-guided busway that had been constructed at huge cost on this very route....

Riponian · Post by **Riponian** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 9:51 pm

I dare ask if the buses actually run any faster by going along the misguided bits. As far as I know, the speed is limited, and it would appear the overall time isn't shortened. I would suspect that the cost of the extra bits on the buses exceed their usefulness in terms of timekeeping. For H&D and Coastliner it'd certainly not be worth it as these sections are so short compared with the length of their routes. Arriva must have thought the same.I suppose you could just drill the concrete track, anchor Pandrol pads to them and then lay tracks on them, so at least they would be some use.Apart from that, if the bus stop are a choice of being at the side of the road or the middle, which do you think are easier to use?

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 9:56 pm

Riponian wrote: I dare ask if the buses actually run any faster by going along the misguided bits. As far as I know, the speed is limited, and it would appear the overall time isn't shortened. I would suspect that the cost of the extra bits on the buses exceed their usefulness in terms of timekeeping. For H&D and Coastliner it'd certainly not be worth it as these sections are so short compared with the length of their routes. Arriva must have thought the same.I suppose you could just drill the concrete track, anchor Pandrol pads to them and then lay tracks on them, so at least they would be some use.Apart from that, if the bus stop are a choice of being at the side of the road or the middle, which do you think are easier to use? It's ridiculous (and dangerous) to frequently see people running across York Road trying to get to the "other" bus stop if they spot a bus.

simong · Post by **simong** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 10:19 pm

First get the busways put in as the cost of adding the guide wheels can be prohibitive to smaller bus companies but very few authorities fell for tlheir ultimate plan of building busways off existing roads - I believe there are some stretches in Cambridge and Edinburgh. As First have been pulling out of cities where they aren't making enough money it can't be long before some of them are complete white elephants. Anyone sensible would look at the busways and realise that doing anything for First, such as installing miles of electrical cable, could result in the same situation.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 12:05 am

If I remember rightly, Arriva equipped their Selby depot buses with "guide wheels" for the service from there to Leeds, but these ridiculous and potentially dangerous "devices" were getting ripped off on the high grass edges to the narrow unkerbed road (B1222) between Sherburn and Newthorpe (Squires Coffee Bar, formerly the New Inn).In York Road at Killingbeck at least one, and I think two, buses have "leapt out of the track" and have caused damage and potential danger. Having considerable personal experience of the terrifying carry on of "letting go of the steering wheel" in automatic bus washing machines (at walking pace) I should hate to have to do it at service speeds on a guided busway. Also, on normal stretches of the routes concerned, it is common to hear the daft little wheels grazing the kerbs, particularly at tightly angled bus stop lay-bys.The completely satisfactory function and effectiveness of kerbside bus lanes on roads like Burley Road and Kirkstall Road says it all - and they are NOT unsightly grease stained rubbish troughs - if I'd qualified as a lawyer I'd confidently say "I rest my case Mi Lud."

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 12:47 am

I've never really understood the point of guided buses.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Sat 15 Jun, 2013 8:58 am

Cardiarms wrote: I've never really understood the point of guided buses. Thats probably because outside the alternative universe of Metro, there isn't one....unless you're a monopoly operator of services who wants to protect some of your highest earning routes?

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sun 16 Jun, 2013 7:32 pm

I don't know if it is relevant to whether there should or should not be a trolleybus scheme but while recently waiting for a bus in Infirmary Street I noticed that lots of 'To Let' signs could be seen in St Paul's Street (and more elsewhere in the centre of Leeds). With what seems to be a lack of demand for at least offices in Leeds I do wonder where all the work will be. Perhaps work will come back into the centre after the end of the economic downturn, but I do wonder if it will.